Sunday, April 18, 2010

best fragrances for Mothers' Day gifts

A well thought-out perfume could be the best Mothers Day gift choice ever if you follow a few simple guidelines. Your mom will be flattered and happy that you took the time to seek out a custom scent you know she will love, and it is one of those gifts that keep gibing; every time your mom spritzes on that fragrance she is sure to think of you lovingly. Before you go shopping, take a few minutes to think about the following items, and you are sure to choose a perfume that pleases mom!

determine whether your mom is a romantic or a classic or a minimalist, a sensualist or a prude, and I mean that in the nicest way possible. For example, a sensualist may be more drawn to musky fragrances, but if your mom was too shy to give you the ‘birds and bees talk’ and never divulged her secret hopes and desires in your memory, you might consider sticking with florals

has she ever mentioned a smell she particularly loves? You can search Basenotes database for those specific notes. For example, if you remember having heard her mention that she loves the smells of cedar, roses, and vanilla, search Basenotes for examples of fragrances that contain all those notes (my search found 140 results of fragrances containing all those notes!)

If you can’t remember her mentioning any smells she loves, what kinds of fragrances does she use to scent her home? What flavor of dish soap? does she have scented candles? what is the name of her laundry detergent. Taking stock of all these household fragrances could let you know what categories of scent she likes. For example, think about whether her dishsoap is lemony, herbal, minty, floral, or unscented. her choice could lead you towards a fragrance category.

Do you have a favorite dish she prepared for you when you were young? My mom made a delicious rice pudding, filled with vanilla and cinnamon, so I might present her with a fragrance I found that features those notes, explaining that it reminds me of her unique cooking and how happy I was when I was little Has she a favorite scent that she can no longer find or that has been discontinued? Can you find a big bottle of it on ebay?

does she garden? If so, are there any particularly fragrant flowers in her garden, or flowers she’s particularly proud of?

does her mother wear a ‘signature’ fragrance? Can you buy that for her? This is not the most creative option, but it’s a safe bet.

is the bottle itself attractive; will she feel like you ‘splurged’ on her and thus enjoy the luxury of using your gift? This means—excepting only the most specific of cases—that you must avoid celebrity scents, which can come across as cheap and ‘mainstream.’

make sure to think carefully about scents your mom doesn’t like, or that upset her. My mother hates the smell of aldehydes (the bubbly-smelling synthetic element used most famously in Chanel no. 5) and often gets carsick when she smells them, so any perfume I bought her would need to lay off the aldehydes.

Remember, the most important thing here is not the fragrance itself, but the fact that you, her loving son/daughter, took the time to think about and locate that special bottle. Be sure to spin a narrative that relates to your mother why you chose x perfume over all other choices. In my case, I might say: “I have been thinking about your delicious rice pudding lately and remembering all the times you nourished me when I was young. I found this scent (let’s say I give her Hermessence Ambre Narguile by Jean-Claude Ellena, which smells like vanilla, cream, tobacco, and raisins) and it reminded me so much of a bowl of your comforting rice pudding that I just had to give it to you, to let you know how much your love over the years means to me”…etc. You probably get my point.

I hope this little guide will be useful as you navigate the vast world of perfume to find the right thing for your mother this Mother’s Day. Good luck, and happy hunting!

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Musing about the Good Life

Welcome to an eclectic world of aesthetic delight! This site explores what it means to prioritize a life lived sensually, with an emphasis on that most neglected of faculties, smell. Here you'll find perfume reviews and musings, recipes, bookish thoughts, and rhapsodies on all things that fill our lives with art in little, yet important, ways.